Clearance Levels
by sinking815
Summary: Day 4. 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM episode. TonyMichelle centered with a little Chloe and Buchanan. Michelle realizes a truth she knew all along.


_"If you ask me…"_

"_The last time I saw you, you couldn't stay sober long enough to hold a job!"_

"… _he still does."_

If someone had told Michelle Dessler three hours ago that she'd be back at CTU Los Angeles heading up the team as stand-in director during a panicked investigation involving recent terrorist attacks with friends she thought she'd never see again and an ex-husband she had tried desperately to forget about, she would have thought that they had lost it. And that was an understatement. But life has a funny way of doubling back on past events and previous memories.

The insight from Audrey Heller, Secretary of Defense Heller's daughter, and her own bitter words to Tony Almeida circled rampantly within her hand as she took in the scene around her. It was almost comforting, albeit a little unnerving, to be standing in the middle of the Floor at her old office again. She noticed that the famliar workstations were practically in the same layout over the black tiled floor that reflected the dim overhead blue fluorescents and that the controlled chaotic atmosphere had not changed in the slightest. Techs rushed in and out of the SAT-COM monitor feed rooms ( commonly know as Tech 1 and Tech 2) compiling lists of incoming intelligence to be cross-checked and priorty-sorted by the computer analysts manning the terminals on the main floor. The relevant data was then fed to the huge monitors mounted on a all which tactical teams referenced in the search for Marwan, leader of the attempt to order nuclear melt-downs at energy plants across the United States.

When she took the time to notice these trivialities, the memories rushed back with a brilliant painful clarity and her mind would work overtime to clamp down harsh barriers like a security system shutting down against a virus. Over the past year, Michelle had carefully constructed her own network of locks and clearance levels around her heart to hold back the intrusive reminders of her past life. A life she had lost because of the consequences this job brought on its workers. It took a very special person to be able to break through and crack the code to get to her heart; in fact the one person who could was the one person that was the reason those security features were there in the first place. But dwelling on past events brought distraction and being anything but focused during a time like this would for sure end in her losing her current position as well as being responsible for millions of civilian lives.

Glancing about the busy floor, she attempted to compose herself but fell short wher her gaze located a tired looking man working independently on a computer. His occasional checks on the huge monitors brought familiar worry creases to his forehead and sharp focus to his dark eyes. His dark hair looked as if it hadn't been combed for days, falling in a comfortable disarray over his forehead. His mouth parted slightly when he rechecked his monitor and Michelle could almost see the wheels in his head turning furiously, processing information so fast it made _her_ head spin. As she studied her ex-husband, she began to feel herself sliding, and not fully unwillingly, done the slippery slope to the dangerous territory in her heart marked "OFF LIMITS". But before she could delve any deeper, Chloe O'Brien's voice sent her a rude awakening.

"Michelle? Did you hear me?"

"Sorry Chloe, what were you saying?" She quickly averted her gaze, but Chloe's brutally honest expression made it perfectly clear that she knew who Michelle had been watching.

"I know this isn't the best time to be bringing forward complaints but this isn't exactly…" The senior analyst always began with a long-winded explanation when nervous. And that took time that CTU and the rest of the country could not afford to spare.

"Chloe. What is it?" Michelle demanded, her voice adopting a firm quality.

"Right… well tactical's swamped and Buchanan's been dogging us all night, so I was wondering if you could put Tony on point," Chloe rushed hurriedly. It never failed to amaze Michelle how her long time friend could fit so many syllables into one breath, but as soon as his name was out of her mouth, Michelle realized why she had been so flustered.

To put it lightly, there weren't many people who didn't know the story between CTU Los Angeles' golden couple. For three long years, Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler had been director and deputy director of the office, and had thwarted so many terrorist threats that many people nationwide had learned their names in conjunction with another well-known agent, Jack Bauer. But as happens in the public limelight, the couple fell apart and CTU had fallen into different hands.

"Michelle?" Chloe had squished her face tightly, as she always did when confused or miffed. Michelle's mind whirled with other possibilities, but found none. Realizing that Tony _was_ the best choice to head up point for the field teams, she nodded absently. "Yeah, Chloe. Fine."

Michelle barely noticed Chloe's hurried escape; her attention was once again focused on the lone agent sorting intel by himself. Turning on her heel to find Buchanan, she couldn't help but feel as though she were there for a reason, as if this day was once again a new starting point in her life.

Pushing the distracting thoughts from her mind, Michelle focused ahead on a tall built man having an animated discussion with a phone. He was dressed in a dark grey suit that was crisply pressed with a contrasting blue tie that neatly tucked into his buttoned jacket. His greying hair was parted without a hair out of place and gelled to keep it that way. His piercing blue eyes filled with an intimidating stare gained from years of experience and a quiet confidence that was built from years of success. A sudden thought made Michelle realize just how different Bill Buchanan was from Tony Almeida. But those betraying painful thoughts were quickly shoved to the side.

The sharp click of her heeled shoes faded as she came to a stop in front of him, waiting for the conversation to end.

"Yeah? Well get on it!" he finished, slamming the receiver back on the hook. He fixed her with a calculating gaze, a look she noticed Tony had never stared at her with… except when she made him fish for an answer. But even then, there was the quiet passion hidden in the serious dark…

_Stop it! _Michelle chastised herself, locking down her wandering mind from hacking too far. Quickly she cleared her throat before Buchanan could question her obvious distracted state of mind.

"I need to grant Tony Almeida a clearance level 6," she said. Her heart immediately plummeted when she saw the amused look cross his lined face.

"You're kidding right?" he asked, disbelief etched everywhere. He folded back his lower jacket, hands resting on his hips and fixed her with a patronizing stare. But Michelle Dessler would not be cowed in her own office, even if that office had been hers for a mere few hours.

She answered his question with the classic Dessler defensive stance; she shifted her weight back on her left foot, crossing her arms of her chest and cocking her head slightly left. "Bill," she began, but he was already stalking away, exhaling loudly and throwing back his head as if the ceiling had suddenly become his number one priority.

"We're swamped here and he can be an asset for tactical…"

"Give me a break, Michelle!" he interrupted, wheeling to face her. By now most of the people were staring openly at the two superiors battling it out on the floor. "You can't honestly believe I could grant that."

"Why not?" Michelle argued stubbornly. Her voice had risen a level, the anger and frustration in her voice sharpening her pronunciation.

"You know the rules!" Bill answered. "The protocol! First, I'd have to call up Division. Then they'd have to run it through DOD, and DOD would flag him because of his criminal past…" As he talked, he counted off the steps on his fingers as if explaining something complicated to a five-year-old.

"Don't patronize me!" Michelle snapped. "If it weren't for Tony, _I _wouldn't be standing here arguing this with you, so don't you dare hold that against him!"

"Oh… so it's _Tony_ now, huh?" Bill retorted. "I thought you made it clear you never wanted to hear that name again."

His sharp words stung Michelle and she could only gape open-mouthed, the familiar burn of tears long since shed threatening a comeback. She took a deep steadying breath, dropping her gaze from the intense blue cold and tried lowering her voice.

"Look, I know this is not a normal request, but right now I don't have much of a choice, alright?" Michelle almost smiled, realizing who she was starting to sound like. "Tony used to run this place, in case you had forgotten, and he did a damn good job too!" The tempo and pitch picked up slightly as Michelle let her anger feed her confidence. "And right now I'm in charge of this office and I really don't appreciate you down-talking any of my staff, no matter what baggage they have. So think about this… I'll go over your head if I have to, which is not what Division wants right now and which, must I remind you, is why you're here. Just do your job, Bill!"

Buchanan was taken aback by her outburst; all he could do was stare back into her furious brown eyes. They danced with a fire he had never seen before and realized it was a fire he didn't want to play with. _The rumors were true_, he thought._ Michelle Dessler can play hardball._

Turning abruptly, he keyed the computer behind him, stepping out of the way so she could see the clearance codes. Nodding briskly, she muttered a thanks and turned to address her staff.

"Let's go people! Terrorist alert is still red!"

As the agents rushed back to work, Michelle crossed the floor to the isolated terminal. She noticed Tony's determined focus and winced slightly as her harsh words from earlier came running back to her in full force. She decided to break the awkward silence.

"Access code is Delta-7-Sierra-Tango-9," she said softly. "And to unlock the Blowfish encryption algorithm, you need 8-3-2-Echo-star."

He gave a slight acknowledging nod and Michelle turned to leave before things could get uncomfortable. His voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Michelle?" His voice was almost a whisper and had that same husky quality that she had fallen in love with. She met his gaze with her eyes, waiting for him to continue, feeling her heart swell behind the myriad of walls and checkpoints she had built.

"Look… I, uh…" He swallowed, dropping his gaze to look anywhere but her. "…Thanks."

Michelle offered him a small smile, her eyes sparkling with a genuine warmth. Tony felt his insides twist and couldn't help but return her smile with one of his own. The two held their gaze, staring straight past each other's security systems, because each held the codes to the others heart. In the moment it took to Michelle to realize this, he had once again adverted his gaze.

"We alright here?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Tony answered.

They exchanged another brief glance, but unlike so many previous times, this one wasn't tinged with hurt, discomfort, and pain. As she turned to walk away, Michelle couldn't help but feel giddy. Maybe this was the fresh start, the do-over, the next step she was looking for. Because without Tony, Michelle's heart would be locked forever. He was the one and only who had the clearance level to break through.


End file.
